In pursuit of continuous improvement. How local authorities can create service improvement through self-innovation with Arcus Built Environment solutions
I think it is fair to say that most councils have got to a point where they have exhausted their ability to make any further significant steps forward in generating efficiencies and delivering service improvement with the legacy systems they have. They now need to do something more transformational to make the step-change required. Arcus… Read more »
Building the digital golden thread
By Robin Barber, product owner for built environment at Arcus Global Digital is becoming part of everything we do in the public sector. Significant work has already been undertaken to progress the digital transformation of the UK’s built environment, which is no exception to this. Earlier this year the Building Regulations Advisory Committee and MHCLG… Read more »
New public sector laws to have huge impact on built environment and planning
To many, the Queen’s speech might not sound like much but a rubber-stamping exercise. Yet what Her Majesty announced last week will impact planning and built environment platforms more than suppliers and public sector customers might initially realise. Here are the standout commitments from the Government this year, and what they mean for suppliers and the public sector alike.
Planning for the future
As the product owner for the Built Environment suite, it is my responsibility to understand market changes and trends. As such I’ve been closely watching the comments and responses to the Government’s Planning for the Future white paper. It’s been particularly interesting to see discussions going on around the newly proposed zoning concepts rather than the adoption of technology.
How Local Land Charges can aid the recovery of the Economy
At first glance, the idea of land charges doesn’t conjure the most exciting of images to mind. Often the service is tucked away in the back office somewhere, only dealt with when necessary. I don’t think that, in the two decades I’ve spent responding to tenders, that I’ve seen a tender for a land charges solution that includes planning and building control. Normally the land charge staff are the last to see a solution during a demonstration at the end of a long day. Maybe land charges is the underappreciated ‘Cinderella’ of public services.
The shared challenge for local authorities and their citizens, and why tech is the solution
We started the year of 2020 talking about Brexit and single-use plastic, we’d pretty much all planned our holidays out, and we had all fallen into a trap of thinking that we knew where we would be by the end of it. The public sector was no exception.
Constructing a more automated future for building control inspections
With 2020 a tipping point for the digitalisation of building control and other crucial infrastructure services, we’re seeing many organisations look to cloud technologies as a way to maintain service delivery whilst managing risk.
Why we shouldn’t go back to normal after COVID-19 – let your cloud be the silver lining
With people imagining what life will be like following the current pandemic, you often see them quoted as expecting working life to ‘go back to normal’. For me, that won’t work.
How planners can work with the cloud in this environment
The current extraordinary situation we find ourselves in has overtly demonstrated the need for those in procurement to rethink the questions that get asked about business continuity. It’s normally a dry and dull subject tucked away at the back of the tender documents, which is replied to with a stock answer detailing data centre availability and the like. Until now, no-one has ever asked: “How will your solution assist our business continuity in the case of an emergency?”
What does 2020 hold for planning tech?
I was asked recently about what I think 2020 will bring for planning tech. My response to that question might not paint a futuristic picture of digitally rendered buildings but what we’re likely to see is just as interesting. The key to all this is recognising that there is a difference between what we’d like to see in planning, and what we will actually see come to market.
Seize every opportunity to transform your local services
In 2018, the Local Digital Declaration was launched by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. It set out an ambition to digitise local government and improve services in response to the changing digital needs and expectations of the demographics they serve. From planning and building to recycling and waste, transformation is needed to bring the services into the digital age.
Let’s whisper this. Is digital always best?
We’re drowning in social demographical profiles about smartphones, tablets and 4G showing how to deal with citizens in the most cost effective channel. You can spend your whole career and budget chasing stats for websites, compliance for accounts, and quickest customer journeys.